Laying with Lions
by ZombiexBunniez
Summary: When the little sister of Robert Baratheon escapes Storm's End as well as Stannis's tyranical upbringing she thinks she has escaped her worries and begun an adventurous new life. Guarded by the handsome kingslayer and dazzling the courts with her wild ways she becomes more comfortable than she should in the den of Lions. Jaime/OC Jaime/Cersei
1. Chapter 1

Robert Baratheon sat forward in his chair and leaned onto the desk before him. His blue grey eyes stared solemnly down at a small message, scrawled in girlish handwriting. It had arrived by raven only that morning. With a sigh the king grabbed his goblet and lifted it to his lips. The bland taste of water washed over his tongue, but he did not thirst for the Dormish wine that usually filled his cup. He set the drink on his desk and began to read the message once more.

Dear brother,

I'm on my way to visit you! I will be taking the King's Road and will be traveling on my own. Please don't fret! If I don't arrive by tomorrow it only means that Stannis has caught me!

Sincerely,

Amira Baratheon

Robert pinched the bridge of his nose but could not fight back a smile of endearment. ~She never did like living with Stannis, it's no surprise she is trying to escape.~ Robert set the message down and chuckled. He hadn't seen his sister since she was 8 years old, and she had been throwing a fit as Stannis carried her away. He thought hard for a moment. ~She must be seventeen now, a good marriageable age. Why has Stannis not found her a husband?~ Robert shook away the thought.

"Page! Get your sorry arse in here!" He roared. The gangly Lancel Lannister scrambled into the room carrying a pitcher.

"Yes, your highness?" His boyish voice cracked in panic.

"Fill my cup, and be quick about it. After that I want you to fetch my wife, I need to speak with her." Robert's endearing smile had completely vanished. His face was hard and cruel. The boy fumbled to pour the contents of the pitcher into the king's goblet but when red wine poured out Robert became furious. "Dammit boy! I told you to serve me water! Off with you!" He gave the boy a harsh shove and grabbed the goblet. He rose quickly and stepped over to the open window. Without a second thought he dumped the wine over the edge and threw the goblet at the shocked page. "I said off with you! " The boy ran out, clanking the goblet and pitcher together as he went making a great racket. Robert huffed and looked at the portraits that hung on his wall. One was of Lyanna Stark, the woman he had loved long ago, and the other of his sister. Amira had sent it as a present for his birthday only a year ago. He tried to imagine the beautiful young woman in the picture as his little sister. Her thick black hair and bright blue eyes were Baratheon through and through, but her smile was wild, just like Robert's. She was the only family he loved. He loved his children of course, but his sister, like Lyanna stark held a special place in his heart. They had been so different, Lyanna was quiet and sweet but Amira, she was just like Robert, wild and free spirited. The family had thought that rigid old Stannis would be able to tame her but Robert had known better, and here was proof.

"Are you ill?" Cersei's voice snapped Robert out of his thoughts. His wife stood in the doorway, her hands clasped in front of her and her face showing absolutely no concern.

"What in the seven hells are you talking about, woman?" Robert growled. He didn't like her tone. He could tolerate his wife when he was drunk, and even fucked her when he was shitfaced, but when he was sober he despised her.

"Your page informed me that you refused wine this morning and then tossed some out the window. I assumed you must be dying." Her tone was dry, and showed that she had been making a joke at his expense, as was her pleasure. Robert let out a disgusted, bark of a laugh and shook his head.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?... My sister is coming to visit… I don't drink when Amira visits." His voice began harsh but softened when he mentioned his sister. Cersei's expression hardened into a displeased frown.

"When will the girl be arriving? I'd like to have time to hide the children." Cersei's cruel words flowed from her mouth freely. Robert glared at her and clenched his fists.

"You'll do no such thing. You're to treat Amira with all the kindness your wicked heart can muster, am I understood?" Cercie only laughed.

"Please, Robert, you know I'm too jealous for all that." She spoke plainly. It made Robert ashamed of her.

"You'll treat Amira kindly or you will be hidden away until she leaves." His voice was full of dark threats that his words had belied. Cercie frowned and looked at the portraits that hung on the wall. She moved as though to leave and then paused.

"I give you three children and yet you love a sister and a dead woman more than me… I am married to a fool." Her harsh words hung in the air long after she had left the room. Robert hated Cercie. She always got the last word. A moment later Lancel peaked his head back into the room looking frightened. Robert instantly pinned his anger onto the boy.

"You're a son of a whore, boy! If you ever tattle to my wife again I'll have you strung up by your balls!" Robert never filtered the filth on his tongue when he screamed at the page. He hated the boy from his golden hair to his weak frame. "Fetch my the kingslayer!" Again the boy scurried out of the room. Seconds later Jaime Lannister swept into the study, his gold cloak billowing behind him. He had apparently been the one on guard.

"Yes, your grace?" Robert detested the sound of tempered patience in Jaime's voice. He hated every Lannister.

"King slayer, I need you to work up a band of men and meet my sister on the King's road. She'll be alone, and riding a horse far too big for her I presume." Robert paused and waited for Jaime's nod. "After that I need you to guard her. She'll never accept a full detail and you're the only sword I trust to protect her."

Jaime's eyebrows rose in mocking disbelief.

"You trust me, your grace?" Jaime sounded amused, as though Robert had made a joke, but his face was deathly serious.

"I trust your sword, king slayer, not you." ~

Amira took in the countryside as she trotted down the king's road. She had been wearing the same jubilant smile for the past three well as the same dress. She traveled only with herself, her horse, a purse of coins and her smile. The sun shone gloriously and the breeze of the free air tickled her cheeks. The king's road had been enticing for years and now that she was on it, alone and free, it was everything she had ever dreamed of. The stallion she rode was strong and fast, a war horse in every right, and he carried her effortlessly. She patted the charger's shoulder lovingly and pulled him to a stop as they reached the crest of a hill. The steed pranced reluctantly but obeyed. In the distance Amira could see king's landing. The city was enormous and sprawling, perched on the edge of the sea like an enormous nest. It had been there for centuries, thriving under many kings. The city was more than a place, it was it's own entity. Amira took in a breath and could smell the sea. It was a familiar smell, she had never been far from the sea, she had practically lived in it at Storm's End but this smell was different. It was free.

The thought of seeing her brothers made Amira smile broadly and she nudged her mount back into the powerful trot she had come to know by heart. All of the stories her handmaidens had told her of the royal parties held at her brother's court filled her head with dresses and knights, she had never been to a party, not as a woman anyway. Stannis had forbade her. Nonetheless she imagined dashing young knights in shining armour and beautiful ladies in brightly colored dresses and expensive jewels. With a frown Amira looked down at her own plain dress. The dark, nearly black, green of her dress made her skin look far too pale and the white underskirt had become dirtied with mud. Her horse however was far more elegantly dressed than she. The black stallion's tack had been made with golden material and his blanket bore the Baratheon Sigil. Amira had hoped that the tack would gain her entry into the city if her brother had not received her message.

The stallion startled and pivoted in a moment of panic, Amira collected him and looked about for what had startled the beast. Quiet, like the murmur of a heartbeat, she heard the sound of approaching hooves. She turned in her seat and looked behind her, and down the ridge. A cloud of dust rose on the humid air where a group of Stannis' men thundered towards her. Where as the sight would have frightened many a maiden it only excited Amira. With a wild grin and a peel of laughter she kicked her mount into a gallop that filled her with fearless pride. Her little mare had never felt like this. She felt like a goddess as she flew on the back of the stallion. Her family creed rang in her ears. Ours is the Fury! ~~~

Jaime Lannister was traveling away from King's Landing with a group of three gold cloaks. The other men laughed and snickered, making jokes about their wives and whores they had used. Jaime was disgusted by them. He had never taken a whore. He had only ever lain with Cersei, a pleasure which he was soon to be deprived of. The king's orders to watch his young brat of a sister would separate him from his beloved Cersei. The thought made him irritable but what truly rankled him was Cersei's reaction to the news. Where he had expected, anger, jealousy, or at the very least, disappointment, she had been completely unmoved.

"See that she stays away from the children," She had said "I don't want her influencing Myrcella." Jaime clenched his fist on the reins making his horse tug at them in protest. He released his tight hold, scolding himself for forcing the horse to bear his wrath.

"Oi, what's that, there?" One of the men asked. Jaime lifted his gaze and focused on the distant hill where the man pointed. A black figure sped over it's crest and raced down it's side. As the figure reached the bottom of the hill a whole group of men spilled over the top, looking like ants from their mound. They were chasing the rider down.

"Poor bloke, They'll have him caught in no time." another man said.

Jaime was about to look away, it wasn't any of his business after all, to care about lone riders but an exclamation stopped him.

"Is that the Baratheon Sigil Ser Jaime?" With a start Jaime refocused on the band of men but did not see a sigil. He then looked at the lone rider, the road turned and as he saw the horse broadside, there on it's flanks shone the golden, crowned stag of Baratheon.

"Seven Hells, it's the Lady." He growled. "Quickly boys!" He roared before thundering ahead of the confused gold cloaks. As he came closer to the rider he began to see her more black hair fluttered behind a pale head that bore a wild grin and her dark dress snapped above the golden sigil of her house. She looked like a child atop the thick-bodied war horse that she rode but she seemed every bit in control of the powerful creature. When Jaime Lannister would think back on that moment when he first glimpsed Amira Baratheon he would remember having thought that he had never seen such an embodiment of unbridled spirit.

"My Lady!" He called to her once she was finally within ear shot. She raised a hand to him and pulled her steed to a halt. She did not look at all awkward in her seat, she was an able rider, and Jaime noted it.

"Good day King's Guard!" She called in a pretty, young voice. "Aren't you a bit far from your post?" Jaime, could have laughed at the girl's jovial tone but he didn't. The hoard of approaching men stopped him from doing so.

"Your brother, king Robert, has ordered us to escort you to king's landing." He informed her. "Though it seems those men have contrary ideas." The fair skinned lady turned in her saddle and looked back at her pursuers

"I've had them hot on my heels for a good ten miles." She chirped it proudly. Jaime noticed that she was breathing heavily and her pale cheeks were flushed. "It's a fine thing you've found me just now! I had thought they would catch me!" She sounded playful and conspiratorial. Jaime could not hold back a disbelieving chuckle. He nudged his horse forward towards the group of men that slid to a stop about thirty paces away. Their horses were lathered and heaving great breaths of air. Jaime glanced back at the black charger that the king's sister was astride and noted that it wasn't a bit lathered. The absence of any heavy armor on the girl had made all the difference.

"How might I help you gentlemen?" He asked, a cocky smile on his lips. He wore his arrogance like armor, and it suited him.

"We have order's return Lord Stannis' ward to Storm's end! Hand her over quietly and no one will get hurt!" The man who responded to Jaime was young and green. He had too much confidence for Jaime's liking. Jaime gave the man a dazzling smile and laughed.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, boy. The king has commanded we see her safely to King's Landing. Aside from that I don't believe you are aware of to whom you are speaking." The man flinched when Jaime called him a boy and Jaime felt pleasure at the man's offense. He could feel combat brewing and he was hungry for a real fight. He didn't know where the sudden blood lust sprang from but he would not question it. He had been behaving for far too long and shooing drunk whores away from the king's chambers was no battle.

"I know who I'm talking to Kingslayer!" The boy jeered back, however, his band of men did not cheer him on, and they looked uneasy.

"Hold your tongue boy! We've not come for a fight." One of the older men in his band commanded. Jaime let out a low laugh and dismounted from his horse.

"No! Please, if the boy wishes to make a fool of himself then by all means." Jaime said with a cat like smile. The boy stayed on his horse for a moment, seeming confused, but grinned stupidly after a long moment and dismounted as well.

"Halt Ser Jaime!" Jaime turned to look at the Lady who bade him stop. She rode over to him and leaned low so that she could speak to his face. She smelled like catnip. An odd way for a young Lady to smell. "I ask that you not kill him… please. He's terribly daft." Her eyes were large and beseeching. The sort of eyes Jaime imagined would earn a whore a weighty purse.

"You wish me to ignore his insults, my Lady?" He asked, pointing a careless finger at the waiting boy who looked very much as though he wanted to hear what they were saying. Jaime was entirely startled by the Lady's response. Her look turned sultry and she gave him a devilish smile.

"What are the bawlings of a Baratheon fawn to a Lannister Lion?" She had made a remarkable point. Lady Amira straightened in her saddle and then gave the boy a pitying look.

"Don't bargain for me woman!" The boy roared angrily. His voice cracked, making him sound even younger than he looked.

"I had meant to let him live." Jaime said to Amira. "But now-" Jaime was cut short by Amira's sudden action. She had closed the distance between herself and the boy in seconds, and without any hesitation slapped him across the face with her riding crop. The boy yelped in pain and grabbed his cheek.

"Let that be a lesson to you!" Jaime heard Amira snap. "A woman's patience only wears so thin!"


	2. Chapter 2

Amira-

Amira had only ever hit anyone twice in her entire life and she had been very young and ill tempered both times, but this time it was to make a point and save the idiot from his own stupidity. The boy stood holding his cheek and staring up at her in disbelief. One of the older men, Denrit, she believed grabbed the boy by his scruff and forced him back onto his horse.

"Terribly sorry, my Lady, this one will be dealt with." He said with an apologetic nod that showed his shame for the boy. Amira lowered her crop and straightened invisible creases in her dress.

"Thank you Denrit." She said with a kind smile and a nod. She had acted on impulse; the sudden fury that she had seen Stannis call upon when he needed it. She wasn't proud of it, but she was not going to allow anyone to speak to her that way. Not anymore.

Once the band of men turned round she did the same and road back to the stunned gold cloaks, and the kingslayer. She didn't say a word to them. She simply kept riding, expecting them to follow. She knew that with that one action she had laid the foundation of her reputation in King's Landing and she was already regretting it.

"Yours is the fury indeed." Came the arrogant voice of the man whom she now knew to be Ser Jaime Lannister. He had ridden up beside her and was now looking at her unabashedly. Amira gave him an apologetic grin and shook her head bashfully. She had not expected the kingslayer she had heard cursed a thousand times to be a handsome man.

"If I had allowed him to get away with such insolence I would be tread upon for my kindness." She said sotto voce. Lannister quirked a blonde eyebrow and gave her a smirk. ~ And you would have killed him.~ She thought resolutely.

"And you did not trust me to defend your honor?" He asked, sounding playfully offended. Amira gave him a sideways glance and shook her head. His voice was so pleasant that it was hard for Amira to believe who he was.

"I trust no man save my brothers." She said matter-of-factly. The Kingslayer nodded agreeably to her. "Besides, I believe your form of protection would have been far more severe than my own."

"Good. You'll do well in King's Landing if you stay that way." He reached out and tugged at the riding crop that now hung innocently from Amira's wrist. " And you're right, it would have been more severe, however, I don't think he'll forget the lesson you just taught him any time soon." The kingslayers grin was dashing and it made Amira blush. She didn't know if he was complimenting her or scolding her and she didn't like being confused.

It was several hours until they reached King's Landing. In that time Amira had done a fine job of talking herself silly and asking all sorts of questions about the city. When they passed through the main gate Amira's eyes took in the familiar sights of the streets. She had been so small the last time she had been through those gates that she had forgotten the feeling it gave her to be within the king's city. She felt proud.

"Finally, you're speechless." The kingslayer said with a teasing laugh as he rode ahead of her. She gave him a look of feigned indignance before smiling back. She had decided that she liked the Kingslayer, and rather enjoyed his company. ~I hope I see him from time to time during my stay. I don't care what others say about him he is good company.~ The crowds in the streets parted and the people looked at her as though she were some foreign thing. She did not mind the attention but the way they looked at her confused her. She hastened her steed and caught up with Ser Jaime, slowing her pace next to him.

"Ser Jaime," She whispered "why are they looking at me as though I'm a foreigner?" She felt very disturbed by their looks.

"Because you are my lady. It is not often they look upon royalty." He shrugged and looked at her as though she ought to have known that. "Most royals are carried about in gilded litters." He added with an edge of disgust.

"But I'm not royalty." She said her thin eyebrows pinching together in confusion as she looked at the mix of faces they passed. ~The people of Storm's End never looked at me that way. Then again, they hadn't thought of me as anything more than dirt.~ Amira frowned momentarily as the bitter thought filled her mind.

"They don't know that." He said with a smile. "You're on a fine horse that bears the Baratheon sigil, and riding next to the me. To them that signifies royalty." He spoke slowly as though he was explaining something to a child. "I don't know what Stannis raised you to believe, but you are royalty. You're sister to the king aren't you?" Amira looked at him as though he had said something filthy and shook her head in adamant disagreement. She had been punished for such arrogant thoughts far too many times to even listen to them from someone elses lips.

"That doesn't make me any different from them." She said in a heated whisper. At this, Jaime gave a hearty laugh and Amira turned a deep red.

"I'm afraid they disagree my lady." If his laugh hadn't sounded so pleasant Amira would have felt furious. Instead she only felt mildly insulted, but she kept quite. Allowing a temper to destroy a newly found friendship was foolish. She worried her reins for a moment before turning and looking at the kingslayer with a pointed look.

"If I'm royalty then so are you." The statement made the kingslayer seem startled for a moment.

"On the contrary, my Lady, I am a member of the king's guard, I have no real titles." It sounded defensive to Amira but she let the thought pass.

"You might as well be on the wall." She said with a shrug. "Why must knights give up lands and titles?" She asked, tactfully changing the subject. She didn't like talking about her royal status. She didn't like being treated like a doll because of her sex and her relations, and despite the way Ser Jaime had been treating her thus far she sensed that he was very much a man of etiquette and social law.

"So that we will never have conflict with our higher duties. If I had land and titles, say I was Lord of Casterly Rock for instance, and the king chose to attack my land. I wouldn't very well want to protect him anymore now would I?" He was distracted as he spoke, as though he had explained it a thousand times before. Amira frowned and looked ahead of them. "Now as for being on the wall, I much prefer it here. I'll leave the wall to the delinquents and northern men who don't mind their manhood freezing off." Jaime grumbled the last part under his didn't seem to realize she had heard what he'd said but Amira's loud burst of laughter made him realize it quickly enough. Instead of becoming contrite and profusely apologizing for his use of free language Jaime gave her a devilish grin and tisked. "Ladies are not supposed to laugh at such things." Amira feigned a gasp of horror and then stuck her tongue out at the older man. ~He is scolding me!~ She thought, feeling a mixture of indignance and intrigue.

"Knights shouldn't say such things in the presence of ladies." She countered. Her voice was light but scolding. Ser Jaime's face hardened and he donned a serious scowl that startled Amira. Her blue eyes widened and her mouth dropped open at the sudden change in her companion. ~By the seven! Must you always open your mouth!?~ She chided herself. Her stomach tightened and she felt very nervous. Being glared at by a skilled warrior was not a pleasant experience.

"My sincerest apologies Lady Baratheon." His voice had lost all signs of playfulness and it made Amira feel very small. She frowned at him and shook her face he was making made her feel as though she had kicked a pup. ~Now look what you've done.~ She was about to swallow her enormous amount of pride and make her own apology when he grinned once more and winked at her. "Don't look so frightened. Your brother will have me beheaded if you arrive looking so distraught." ~He was putting me on!~ She would have punched him in the arm had he been her own brother, but she restrained the unladylike reaction and simply called upon a Lady's fiercest weapon. She pouted… and he completely ignored it. She rode on in pout-filled silence for what felt like an eternity before she let out a great sigh and glared at the kingslayer. He was watching her with an amused smile on his face.

"What?" She blurted out, feeling more than slightly annoyed. Her reaction only made him laugh and shake his head. Amira flushed a deep scarlet and frowned. "What is it?" She asked snappily. She hated being laughed at. Despite her obvious agitation the kingslayer ignored her once again and pointed above them.

"We've entered the Red Keep." He announced to her. Amira was so surprised that she completely forgot her petty behavior and looked ahead of them. She had been too distracted by the man riding next to her to even realize that she had arrived at her destination.

Amira followed hastily after the kingslayer as he led her to her brother. She looked at everything and smiled at everyone she passed. She wasn't sure where they were going she had hardly any memory of the castle but she planned to remember every inch of it. ~It doesn't feel as big as it once did.~ She thought as the recollection of a pint sized version of herself running through the halls playing with her younger niece and nephew. Tommen had only been a baby at the time but she had loved playing with little Myrcella. Joffrey however was a different story. He had always been a spoiled brat, and had been overly fond of playing with dead things.

The kingslayer stopped in front of a set of doors where a fellow kingsguard stood and assumed his position on the opposite side of the door from his fellow. Amira smiled and gave him a silent thank you in the form of a curtsy before pushing open the doors and entering a room that looked very much like a study.

"Amira?" Her brother had aged, and become quite fat over the course of nine years but Amira still saw the same kind, loving brother she had been forced to leave behind as many years before. He looked at her astonished. "You can't be that little hellion who used to fill my boots with pillow feathers." a proud grin spread across his face and he stood up spreading his arms. Amira giggled and ran to her older brother, tackling him with a bear hug.

"Gods, it's been too long!" Amira sighed, enjoying the familiar smell of ink and leather oil that wafted off of her brother.

"Step back now let me have a look at this strange beauty you've acquired!" Robert demanded kindly. Amira complied, doing a turn for him as though she was trying on a new gown.

"By the seven! You're dressed in rags and still the prettiest woman in Westeros!" He proclaimed proudly. He sounded like a father bragging about his little girl. Amira swatted his arm and laughed sweetly.

"I couldn't wear my best gown for my escape now could I?" Amira put her hands on her hips and grinned like a boy who had just gotten away with murder. Robert laughed heartily and sat back in his chair, wiping a tear that had been pinched from his eye.

"Sit! Tell me about your daring escape from the evil, old Stannis." The boyish tone in Robert's voice made Amira feel all at once at home and comfortable.

"It was actually rather uneventful. I saved up the coins I was given each of my name days for the past eight years and paid off a guard and a stable boy. The guard looked the other way and the stable boy provided me with the steed I requested." Amira's smile grew devilish. "I should have paid the stableboy more but I needed enough for the night I spent in an Inn along the way." Robert raised an eyebrow in a questioning look that showed his knowledge of her mischievous soul.

"And which horse ,pray, did you bid him steal?" The grin on Robert's face was slowly growing.

"None other than Stannis' finest stallion. It wouldn't have made a very bold statement if I had simply slipped away in the night on my own horse." Amira lifted her chin cockily as she spoke. Robert slammed his fist on his desk with a laugh that sounded more like a bark.

"If any of us is a Baratheon, it's you! I'm sure Stannis was fit to be tied!" Robert's raucous laughter made Amira's chest fill with pride and caused her to giggle at his excitement. After his laughter had calmed Robert took a sip from his goblet and sighed. "Now we must get you into a gown that suits your rank!" Robert stated with a resolute thump to his desk. "Kingslayer!"

Amira turned and watched as the handsome, blonde knight who had been her escort appeared through the doors.

"Yes, your highness?" He asked, with a curt nod in place of a bow.

"Take my sister to her rooms and see that she come out wearing something fit for a Lady! If she tries to leave in anything less than courtly turn her right around and make her start fresh!" Amira flushed and glared at her brother.

"That's hardly a job for a king's guard, Robert." Amira scolded. Robert shrugged and took another swig from his cup.

"Until you leave this city he is your guard, so he'll do whatever in the seven hells he's told."


End file.
